Nike+ Sportkit

I went out and picked up the Nike+ iPod chip kit over the weekend. Really cool toy I must say. I bought a small add-on velcro- "pocket" for my Saucony shoes to put the clip in (the greatest hack ever). Sunday morning I ran down at the local track for a 1-mile calibration run (it worked without calibration but at some point these pedometer technologies need calibration).

Tonight I finished my big run this week - the 10-miler. My google maps -based route has it measured at 10.13 miles. The calibrated Nike+ chip recorded it at 10.33 miles... That's only about 2% off.

The pedometrer technology works by essentially counting your "Steps" then using your average stride length to calculate your speed & distance. They will never be as perfect as GPS (which isn't perfect either) because invariably your stride length will change some depending on energy level and terrain. I was surprised to see it only at 2/10ths off after 10 miles.

The best part is the chick that tells me how far I've gone every mile and Paula Radcliffe telling me how great I did on my personal best. Why isn't there an add-on for more motivational talk during the run? ("Hey hot guy, keep it up", "Nice work, sexy")

http://www.nikeplus.com/
http://www.runnerplus.com/